New interactive crime data reporting tool goes live
"New interactive crime data reporting tool goes live"
From today (30 November), a new user-friendly online tool is available for the public to access Police crime data.
“Until now, Police has not had an effective tool that allowed us to report recorded crime data in an easily accessible format online,” says Deputy Chief Executive for Strategy, Mark Evans.
“This new
interactive tool provides access to a host of useful
information about crime trends, across five different
reports which can be collated depending on the user’s
needs.
It captures detailed data about numbers of
offenders and victims by time, place, gender, ethnicity and
age, without identifying individuals.
“It also includes a new report not previously available, which captures victimisations by time and place, which shows where and when crimes occurred, at a detailed level,” Mr Evans says.
“Policedata.nz will make it easier for people to
explore, access, and analyse data that Police holds about
crime in ways not possible before.
It also reflects
Police’s commitment to transparency and accessibility of
information about their communities.”
The data sets come from collections called Recorded Crime Victims Statistics (RCVS), and Recorded Crime Offenders Statistics (RCOS), and are based on similar collections in Australia.
Previously, some of the data has been available through the Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) website, but has now been migrated across to the Police website, where it will continue to be available and updated monthly.
Statistics NZ has been
working with Police since early last year to help develop
the new reporting and ensure a smooth transition.
It will
continue to work with Police, as it does with all government
agencies who publish official statistics, to provide ongoing
oversight and advice.
“The crime data sets being released today will just be the first step,” Mr Evans says.
“Police anticipates using policedata.nz to roll out more data sets of public interest throughout 2017.”
Suzanne Townsend,
Director of the Open Government Information and Data
Programme based at Land Information NZ says: “Police have
been exemplars in their endeavour to be open and
transparent.
This tool will better inform communities and
enable them to work together with Police to address issues
in their neighbourhood.
We look forward to seeing the
further improvements to come, and to seeing the results of
this valuable data being put to good use.”
Adds
Statistics New Zealand’s Natalie Keyes: “We are
supporting Police as they launch this new interactive
tool.
The data on the Police website is the same as that
previously available via Statistics NZ, but with some
additional features, which will provide more information
about where and when crimes are occurring.
This data will
help inform decision-makers and other
stakeholders.”
Police has also consulted with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner before finalising its reports.
All Police statistical information also continues
to be routinely independently audited and overseen as
appropriate.
A link to the reports is available here: www.policedata.nz
Video links explaining how to use the new tool are available here:
Police has also set up an email support line – data@police.govt.nz – to respond to any questions or feedback regarding the new tool.
ENDS